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Exile to Ballast Island

Duwamish Camp at Ballast Island at the Seattle Waterfront, 1900
Courtesy of the Museum of History and Industry

The exile to Ballast Island

"Ballast Island" was created when sailing ships
dumped their ballast of boulders and other materials at the City of Seattle's
waterfront before taking on cargoes of lumber, grains, or other goods destined
for San Francisco and other ports.

Duwamish families and other Native Americans came
by canoe to the Seattle waterfront. Some were seasonal visitors, seeking
work. Native Americans harvested and sold shellfish, and sold woven
baskets and carvings, catering to the Whites' demand for souvenirs. Some were
traveling to harvest the hopfields upriver. For some Duwamish, Ballast
Island became a year-round residence by 1885.

The Duwamish had been forced from their Longhouses
in the new city of Seattle and other parts of their homeland. The United States
Army and other Whites burned the Longhouses to prevent the Duwamish from
returning to their traditional homeland.

Many Duwamish people did not want to relocate to
live with traditional enemies at reservations built far from their ancestral
villages and burial grounds. For several years, they were allowed to live on the
bleak parcel of land, devoid of fresh water and other vital resources. Over
time, the Duwamish adopted the use of canvas tents to replace their traditional
cattail mat shelters.

In time, even Ballast Island became too valuable
to the Whites and the Duwamish were exiled once again. By 1917, at the beginning
of World War One, Native Americans living on Ballast Island was a distant
memory.